BMC Get Stuck In volunteers off to a flying start in winter 2026

Mynediad Newyddion
23 Chw
2 min read

A grand total of 42 volunteers braved the cold, wind and rain to plant thousands of trees and sphagnum moss plugs to restore the Peak District moorland this winter.

Our BMC Access & Conservation Trust Get Stuck In volunteers are off to a flying start this year. So far during January and February they have planted 1,100 trees to increase diversity and reduce flood risk and 11,400 sphagnum plugs to restore the peat bog moorland in the Peak District.

Get Stuck In founder and BMC Access & Conservation Trust trustee, Steve Charles, says, "On 22 January, Get Stuck In 2026 started after a couple of events had to be cancelled due to frozen ground and bad weather. A total of 11 BMC volunteers joined National Trust Rangers from High Peak on a new project transplanting sphagnum moss from well established areas to adjacent areas with no moss on Kinder Scout. This was really successful to spread moss across the moor. Weather very wet and misty but everyone said they enjoyed themselves!

Steve continues, "On 29 January, we had 8 BMC volunteers joining Derbyshire Wildlife Trust volunteers above Abney in the Peak District to plant 1,100 trees on the Overdale Nature Reserve. These will benefit biodiversity, and help keep water on the moors, and reduce flood risk downstream."

BMC volunteers brave the cold to plant sphagnum moss to help restore the Peak District moorland

BMC Peak Area Rep, Peter Judd, says, "On 10 February 10 BMC volunteers joined Eastern Moors Partnership staff on a very foggy day to walk across a sodden Burbage Moor to plant 5,400 Sphagnum Moss plugs, a tremendous effort in the conditions! Participants remained very cheerful spurred on by the hot drinks and biscuits provided by Eastern Moors, kindly carried for us to enjoy.

"On Sunday 22 February, 13 BMC members and two rangers planted sphagnum moss plugs on Burbage Moor, near the Ox Stones and not far from Burbage Edge in the Peak District for the Eastern Moors Partnership. These eager planters, spurred on by the rare treat of a mostly sunny day (and a ready supply of biscuits), managed to put a record (for Eastern Moors) 6,000 sphagnum plugs in the ground during the day, delighting the rangers directing our work!  We were told this sphagnum had been bought with funds from Moors for the Future Partnership and costs around 50p a plug, meaning that's £3,000s worth of sphagnum was usefully planted that day.

"This moor experienced a devastating wildfire in 2023 in an area adjacent to our planting zone. As sphagnum moss (with its ability to absorb 20 times it's own weight in water) recolonises these moors (with luck each plug should double in size each year) then the peat will become progressively wetter and more fire-resistant in the long term.

A big thank you to all 42 Get Stuck In volunteers who have planted sphagnum or trees this winter. Sign up for more events here.

Protect the Sheffield Moors from Wildfire

Help us raise £50,000 this year to protect the Sheffield Moors from Wildfire - 81.2 hectares (114 football pitches!) of this beautiful moorland, including the popular walking and climbing areas of Stanage, Burbage, Froggatt and Curbar Edges, has been lost to wildfire since 2018.

Did you know that you can donate to the BMC Access & Conservation Trust entirely FREE simply by shopping online as you usually would, at any time of the year with Easyfundraising? It only takes two minutes to set up, here's how.

If you want to contribute to upland and mountain access and conservation causes like the above, then simply click here to donate to The BMC Access & Conservation Trust via The Climate Project or Mend Our Mountains campaigns at any time. One-off or regular donations of any amount are always most welcome.

Volunteer

Fancy fixing footpaths in the Lake District, placing stepping stones in Eryri or planting sphagnum in the Peak District? Sign up to one of our Get Stuck In events here. And if you can't volunteer, why not gift us the amount you would have spent in fuel or on a train fare getting to a volunteer event?

Leave a legacy

A wise person once said, the most noble thing you can do is to "plant trees under whose shade you will never sit" and, likewise, fund path repair projects on which you will never walk and moorland restoration projects which you will never see. If you'd like to make a lasting impact on the landscape long after you've left this world, please consider leaving us a legacy.

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